Reviews in Research on Adolescence: Genres, Trends, and Challenges

Abstract

The past few decades have witnessed rapid growth in research centered on the period of adolescence. Several markers of that growth are now obvious, such as multidisciplinary journals dedicated to that developmental period. But, it remains to be determined, like other fields of research that often contribute to the understanding of adolescence (genetics, cognitive science, medicine), whether multi-disciplinary developmental research on adolescence systematically evaluates the integrity of its findings. This study explores the extent to which the leading “adolescent” journals evaluate the state of knowledge that they disseminate, the importance of such evaluations, and challenges to the discipline’s scientific integrity. The review reveals that developmental journals devoted to the adolescent period pervasively do not publish articles that focus on reviews of research; it also finds that the most dominant forms of reviews are those deemed less rigorous. The discussion focuses on these findings’ implications and underscores the legitimacy and importance of doing what more established disciplines recognize as important and do more routinely.